AR Sponsor
Posted: 12/7/2004 9:52:04 AM EDT
|
I've heard that mil-spec ammo, such as xm193, will have less chance of slamfires because the primers are harder. Does this mean that if I use match rounds from , like, Federal or another manufacture that I'm exposing myself to a higher liklihood of slamfires? Are there some specific types of ammo/manufactures that are known to use softer primers thus upping the slamfire ante? Regards. |
|
Federal's primers are the softest (not the XM193 primers, which are actually Lake City/military manufacture), followed by the modern, brass-colored Winchester primers. The hardest primers are the CCI, followed by Remington. The older nickeled Winchester primers were between the last two. -Troy |
NEVER use a Ti firing pin, ever. I was just stating relative hardness of the primers. It would be exceptionally rare for a primer to detonate via slamfire, even with "civilian" primers, though it *is* possible, and statistically, the civilian primers make it more likely. The likelyhood increases if you chamber the same round more than once, as each time, the pin makes contact with the primer (you can see a little dent). It's far more common for reloaders to fail to seat a primer far enough into the primer pocket, and have a slamfire from the bolt head hitting the primer. This is why you must never chamber a round with the muzzle pointed in an unsafe direction. There have been at least 3 AR15.com members who have chambered rifles at home only to have them slamfire (only one of those was an AR), and in each of those three cases, the muzzle was NOT pointed in a safe direction. Those three folks were all VERY LUCKY that no one was hurt or killed. Always *assume* that your gun will slamfire when you chamber it. -Troy |
|
I hear you on the safe handling aspects. I was browsing through a google gun group and saw something where a guy, with an AR, had a slamfire in his house and killed his dog. I'm thinking to myself, wtf? About the titanium firing pin; why NEVER use one? I get conflicting ideas on this. For example the people at Fulton Armory suggest you should use a titanium pin if you use commercial ammunition. |
FWIW, "improperly-seated" primers by reloaders are probably responsible for MOST of the slam-fire occurances which arise from the AR15 free-floating firing pins. As to the Ti firing pins, you'll get admonished for mentioning them around here, but I have used one in my long range accuracy CR6724 Elite for years now with no ill effects or horror stories. Unless your rifle is designed for long range accuracy (500 yards+) with high dollar 2-stage trigger and other tweaks it's UN-NECESSARY for most plinkin/SHTF ARs. Mike |
Where did you hear this? Titanium has a fatigue life that is five times greater than that of steel or aluminum. I think you are thinking of Magnesium. |
AR Sponsor